Audubon County Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Audubon Co., Iowa) 1885-1894, 1887-10-20
SPEECH OF GOV. GEAR.
Opening Of the Republican Campaign In
the First District
Hon. John n. Gear Ably Discusses the
Questions at Issue, and IL En-
Enthusiastically Received.

The following are literal extracts from
the great speech Of Gov, Gear in opening
the political campaign In tho first district
ut Mediapolis
TRANSPORTATION.
Iowa, on the question Of tho right Of a
State to control corporations created by
and under State laws, was the first to
enact n statute on this question. Having
been member Of several Legislatures In
which this question was debated, and
believing firmly In tho right Of the State
to control all public corporations created
by and under her laws. and having always
cast my vote in favor Of such control, l have
watched with interest the growth of pub
lie sentiment aud the result of legislation
General Assembly enacted what has gone
into history as tho Granger law" This
Granger law" prescribed maximum
schedule Of rates for the carrying OF
freight and passengers. Its validity was
contested by the corporations through all
the courts, The Supreme Courts of the
United States affirmed the right of the
State to control corporations created
under her laws; this principle has been
held to be sound ever since, AT the end
of four years II was found that the
schedule of rates" fixed by the act of
1874 was working serious hardship TO the
producers of the state, especially those OF
the western portion; and In 1878 the Gen,
eral Assembly repealed that portion of
the law fixing freight rates, and establish.
cd In lieu thereof u board of commissioners
whose duties were those OF arbitrators,or
In other words, they were to decide ON all
complaints that might arise between the
shipper and corporations. While the
commission may not have met to the
fullest extent the wishes OF all. vet II has
decided In the eight years since 1t was
established an to September |, 1887, over
six hundred and thirty cases, which Is
twice rs many rs has been decided by the
English commissioners, and many more
than by any of tho commissioners OF other
States aud IL is notable fact that all Of
these decisions, save six or eight, or about
one per cent, have been accepted as final
by both the complainants and the corpor.
atoms; and In the six or eight cases In
which appeals have been taken to the
State courts. the decisions OF the commits,
sioners have been sustained, save In one,
and that one was Of Interstate character
and beyond the jurisdiction Of our State
courts. In addition, there has not to my
knowledge been suit for ovcrchargos on
freight brought against railroad com.
pany In Iowa since the establishment of
the Board Of Commissioners. To my mind,
this commission has been Of great value
to the people Of the State In the saving of
costs and litigation. While the workings
of the present law have. In the main,
been satisfactory, yet, Its powers being
limited TO State traffic (Which in Iowa Is
only twenty per cent of the whole trailic),
there has grown In the minds Of the PEG.
pie Of this State. and, in fact, throughout
the whole country, mn intense public sen,
iiment which has demanded In emphatic
tones, that Congress should enact law
which should apply to the inter. state traffic
commerce of the whole country The
reason for this demand may be found Ia
the fact that In the matter of Interstate
traffic, which amounts In the western
States to eighty per cent Of the whole
traffic, Is beyond the scope Of State legis
lation; also that the railways have on this
class Of traffic been law to themselves
and hayc In many instances violated the
principles Of the common law IN their
treatment Of their patrons; moreover,
there had come TO be well grounded
conviction in the minds Of the public,
that individuals and places had been built
up by a system of special rates and re.
bates. enriching those individuals and
places to the serious dctrimcnt OF other
equally deserving individuals and locali-
ties. Hence, the popular demand, in re-
Spouse to which the last Congress enact
cd the Inter State commerce law. IL ID
safe TO say that In the pass Of this law,
step forward has been taken that should
not be retraced. Public necessity requlr-
cd the organization OF these corporations.
II gave them, in some particulars, powers
that alone belong to the State, never to
the individual; and II Is but right that
government should sec that these powers
are exercised for the public good, and
never made the instruments OF oppression,
or TO conccde to one Individual business
advantages Of which IL deprives another.
FINANCIAL HISTORY or THE REPUBLICAN
PARTY IN IOWA.
The battle cry OF the Democratic party
for the past sixteen years. Is that the
| Republican party has been corrupt; hence
there should be change. Our Democrat
| ic friends promised, II they were admitted
VI DOWtT, UNIV thtIC Wohh pN hipti'oNb
most stupendous frauds by the Republic
cans, all Of which bud been covered up
Well, when the Democrats came into
| power In 1885. they failed to make their
promises good, for the simple reason that
they could not find the frauds for they
| did not exist except In the Imagination oil
those who made the charge. The OPP
position harp on this theory In lowa;they
say that the Republican party has been in
control of affairs SO long that 1t has be-
come careless, extravagant and even cor
rupt Now, here in Iowa is the best
place TO test the truth of the theory that
long tenure Of Office makes n party cor
rupt; for in Iowa the Republican party
| has been in office constantly Tor ovel
| thirty-one years. | am willing that The
party shall stand or fall on its record II
| Iowa. During the long years in which
the Republican party has administered
the affairs IN our State they have at tho
| end of each and every year presented tc
the people balance sheet, which ha'
been carefully examined By them anC
Judgment was pronounced ut the polls
and the invariable result has been re
| turn of the party 10 power. DO yol
think, fellow citizens. that such WON'T
| have been the result IL the people had
! for moment believed the charges made
/ by our Democratic friends were true
| For it should be borne in mind that thu
people Of Iowa are an intelligent reading
people. They take nothing on trust, blu
examine for themselves and make up theil
minds from the facts in the case and &C
| in accordance with those facts.
Yet our Democratic friends ask you to
put them in control in tins State. on thu
ground that they can better administer
your affairs than the Republicans have
done. 1t is an old saying that "thc proof
of the pudding is In the chewing the bal
strings" Do our Democratic friends Offer
any proof of their ability to administer
your State affairs better than is now done
| Ii Is therefore only by comparing wha
| they did when they were in power IN thu
and other States, that we can judge OF thei
ability to make their promises good.
Let us first examine into the factg II
| this State. Let us go back few year
in our State history. For ten years as
territory and eight years as State. thu
Democratic party administered the affair
of Iowa; and during those eighteen year
what did this party do for the then infan
commonwealth / have failed to reaC
the States history Alright II can find an,
marked impression on her pages OF an.
material advancement during that perio'